Featured reading

Itani on Global Efforts to Combat ISIS

New Atlanticist
Dec 8, 2024

Experts react: Rebels have toppled the Assad regime. What’s next for Syria, the Middle East, and the world?

By
Atlantic Council experts

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has been ousted as opposition forces quickly took the Syrian capital. Atlantic Council experts share their insights on the developments.

Conflict
Corruption

Itani on Global Efforts to Combat ISIS

Fast Thinking
Dec 8, 2024

Assad has fallen. Now what?

By
Atlantic Council

The power shift in Syria will reverberate across the Middle East and the world. Our experts explain what’s next.

Conflict
Iran

Itani on Global Efforts to Combat ISIS

New Atlanticist
Dec 9, 2024

Dispatch from Doha: Assad’s fall, Iran’s weakness, and the impact of unintended consequences

By
Jonathan Panikoff

In just six months, Iran has slid from a position of strength to perhaps the weakest it has been since 1979.

Conflict
Iran

Itani on Global Efforts to Combat ISIS

MENASource
Dec 10, 2024

Where Syria goes next after the fall of Assad

By
Frederic C. Hof

With the Assad family agone, Syria, at long last, has a chance to achieve the kind of political transition envisioned by the 2012 Geneva Final Communique and UNSCR 2254.

Conflict
Middle East

Itani on Global Efforts to Combat ISIS

New Atlanticist
Dec 10, 2024

A blueprint for bringing about a new Syria

By
Kirsten Fontenrose

For a reconstruction strategy in Syria to be effective, all parties must adopt a unified approach that is clear-eyed about the country’s new leaders.

Crisis Management
International Organizations

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Our work on Syria sheds light on the ongoing struggle of Syrians to fulfill their desire for democratic self-governance as the United States and the international community grapple with the aftermath of a devastating civil war, millions of refugees across the Middle East and Europe, and ongoing security and political challenges spilling over Syria’s borders.


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Syria Strategy Project

The Atlantic Council, Middle East Institute, and European Institute of Peace collaborate with subject matter experts and policymakers in the US, Europe, and the Middle East to develop a holistic strategy to sustainably forge a pathway to resolving Syria’s crisis.

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Qutaiba Idlbi


Resident Senior Fellow, Syria

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

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Michel Duclos


Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Conflict
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Arwa Damon


Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
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Ömer Özkizilcik


Nonresident Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
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Sinan Hatahet


Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
Economic Sanctions

Former fellow


Hind Kabawat


Former Nonresident Senior Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
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Diana Rayes 


Nonresident Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic
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Mon, March 18, 2024 • 1:00 pm ET

The Syria Strategy Project: A public launch

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Mon, February 12, 2024 • 12:00 pm ET

One year on: Assessing the February 6th earthquake response in Syria

Civil Society
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Fri, May 31, 2024 • 9:30 am ET

Serving communities with disability in conflict contexts

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Content

In the News

Sep 27, 2015

Itani on Global Efforts to Combat ISIS

By Faysal Itani

The Associated Press quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on the complications of uniting global players in a coalition against ISIS in Syria:

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

SyriaSource

Sep 27, 2015

Syria: The Assad Conundrum

By Frederic C. Hof

Distinguished intellectual and former Obama administration official Philip Gordon has called for a fundamental Syria policy recalculation centering on the status of Bashar al-Assad. Gordon’s basic thesis is that if Washington and its partners drop their demand for preemptive victory—Bashar’s immediate departure—Iran and Russia may see their way clear to shuffling their noisome client off […]

Syria

In the News

Sep 25, 2015

Hof on Obama, Putin’s Upcoming Meeting

By Frederic C. Hof

US News and World Report quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on President Barack Obama’s upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin: 

Russia Syria

In the News

Sep 25, 2015

Hof on Life amid Syria’s Civil War

By Frederic C. Hof

Business Insider quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on the new norm for life in Syria as the country’s civil war rages on:

Syria

In the News

Sep 25, 2015

Itani on Iran’s Goals in Syria

By Faysal Itani

The Hill quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on Iran’s views on embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime:

Iran Syria

SyriaSource

Sep 25, 2015

Slaughter In Syria: Mass Homicide And Echoes Of Bosnia

By Frederic C. Hof

Critics of presidential passivity really want hundreds of thousands of uniformed Americans thrust into a foreign war. The killings are horrific, but reflect age-old hatreds and grudges. The opposition is hapless, and it too does bad things: there are “no good guys” and the conflict itself defines complexity.

Syria

In the News

Sep 25, 2015

Cohen on Russia’s Military Assistance to Syria

By Ariel Cohen

Global Energy Center and Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Ariel Cohen joins Russian Business Channel to discuss Russia’s increasing military presence in Syria: Watch the full interview here.

Russia Syria

MENASource

Sep 25, 2015

The Implications of Russia’s Syria Intervention for Turkey

By Aaron Stein

Russia’s recent deployment of aircraft and military equipment in Syria runs counter to Turkey’s efforts to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The introduction of Russian aircraft and surface-to-air missiles prompted many to argue that Moscow is seeking to prevent the establishment of a US- and Turkish-backed air-exclusion zone over parts of northern Syria.

Russia Syria

MENASource

Sep 24, 2015

PKK-Turkey Conflict Could Hurt Kurdish Fight Against ISIS in Syria

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) operating in Syria and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq have become indirect partners of the Western anti-Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) coalition. In July 2015, however, the Turkish Armed Forces launched airstrikes against PKK targets following an attack that killed two policemen.

Syria Turkey

In the News

Sep 23, 2015

Burwell: European Union Lacks Authority on Refugee Crisis

By Frances Burwell

The Associated Press quotes Vice President for European Union and Special Initiatives Frances G. Burwell on the European Union’s approach to the Syrian refugee crisis:

European Union International Organizations
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Experts

Fellow

Amany Qaddour 

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Civil Society

Fellow

Diana Rayes 

Nonresident Fellow, Syria Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Civil Society

Fellow

Lukas Andriukaitis

Nonresident Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Disinformation Eastern Europe

Staff

Elise Baker

Senior Staff Lawyer, Strategic Litigation Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Civil Society Extremism

Fellow

Nicholas Blanford

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Conflict

Fellow

Alia Brahimi

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Civil Society
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